Caryssa Dieni, UO Anthropology Department

Transmission of Ecological Knowledge Through Star Myths

Advisor: Dr. Michelle Scalise SugiyamaHuman Animal Lab, UO Anthropology Department

• Hunter-Gatherers/Foragers: peoples who are reliant on wild resources for all or the majority of their diet

• Asterism: prominent pattern or group of stars; constellation (we also included references to individual stars, such as Polaris)

• Star myths: traditional narratives that present supernatural explanations for the origins and/or features of asterisms

Introduction:

Definitions

Research Inspiration

• Research in ethnoastronomy indicates that early agricultural societies used changes in the positions of asterisms to

• predict seasonal change

• determine when to plant crops

• Research indicates that this knowledge was encoded in myth (e.g., Barber & Barber 2004)

• We wanted to know how widespread these practices are among foragers

• How widespread are star myths?

• How widespread is use of star myths to encode ecological information?

• Foragers use asterisms to predict seasonal change & resource availability • Example: "Arawaks and Warraus … have told me that this [Southern Cross] represents the powis ….

[and] serves also as an indication for the hunting of the bird, Schomburgk recording how, when the cross stands erect, the powis commences its low moan" (Roth 1915:261)

• Foragers encode this information in star myths• Example: “In San mythology the stars are animals or people of earlier times; the names given to them

usually represent animals that are abundantly available at the seasons that the stars are prominent” (Medupe 2015:1033-4)

• Star myths encode information on how to locate asterisms• Example: “star mythology ‘maps’ the celestial sphere, and through graphic narrative teaches the

location of various stars and their … relationship to each other, instruction crucial when using stars in time telling or in navigation” (MacDonald 2015:536-537)

• Foragers use star myths as mnemonics• Example: “Stars could be remembered by the legends associated with them. The people before us had

no writing system so they had legends in order to remember” (MacDonald 2015:168)

Evidence of Ecological Use of Star Lore

Using Stars to Predict Seasonal Change

• The presence and position of many asterisms varies across the year• may be visible for only part of the year• may rise and set at different times/places over the year• may be higher/lower in the sky at different times of year

• Heliacal rising commonly used to mark seasonal change• Heliacal rising: first appearance of an asterism on the

horizon before dawn after a period of disappearance• Example: “The coming of the dingo pups came earlier in

Arnhem Land, and Orion rising at dawn (about June) signaled this propitious event” (Johnson 1998:25)

Predictions

• If star myths are widely used by foragers to store and transmit ecological knowledge useful for subsistence, we would expect these myths• to reference asterisms that can be used for ecological purposes• to provide information useful for identifying and locating these asterisms• to provide information about these asterisms that can be used to reckon time

(e.g., how long until sunrise)• to associate these asterisms with a given season or with seasonal change

(e.g., cold season, dry season, rain, snow)• to provide information about these asterisms that can be used for navigation• to reference important seasonal plant/animal resources or plants/animals

that are cues of seasonal change

Methods:

Generating the Study Sample• We surveyed a cross-cultural sample of forager story collections for star

myths

• Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock 1967) used to generate list of forager cultures• “Forager” operationalized as combined score of 7 (66-75%) or more for dependence

on gathering, fishing, and/or hunting of wild resources (Atlas Table A, Column 7)

• Atlas is organized into regions of closely related cultures• 102 regions contain forager cultures; some regions contain multiple forager cultures

(total # forager cultures in Atlas = 250)• UO library search conducted for forager story collections; collections with star myths

found for 44 different forager culture regions and 82 different forager cultures

• A total of 211 narratives were coded for presence of the predicted information• For each region, all star myths were coded, including variants

DESCRIPTION

• Information useful for locating and/or identifying asterism

• Example from the Saami:

• “‘if you follow the star all night long, you will see that everything circles around it, all the animals and stars of heaven. The hunter, the reindeer calf and the moose, the dogs and the old man, all circle round and round. Only the North Star doesn't move’” (Kuoljok & Utsi 1993:16)

TIME

• Information about asterism’s relevant period of visibility or its use for estimating time

• Example from NW Australia:

• “each day just before dawn, Barnumbir, the morning star, appears in the sky. The other stars have fallen, so her small light shines brightly. She dances on the treetops, then she twinkles briefly on the black waters” (Allen 1975:232)

Methods:

Content Themes

Methods:

Content Themes

SEASONAL CHANGE

• References to season, season in which asterism is visible, or relevant season for using the asterism

• Example from the Nivaclé:

• “They are going to be stars and everyone who sees them will call them 'Rhea Foot.' They will appear during the season that the algarrobo tree gives fruit; they will appear in summer” (Wilbert & Simoneau 1987:73)

NAVIGATION

• References to use of asterism to orient oneself in space or reckon direction of travel

• Example from the Naskapi:

• “‘he is North Star, and will be of good use to serve the people of the world that is to come, as a guide by night in their travels.’ So the North Star became the guide of the people” (Speck 1925:28)

algarrobo fruit

Methods:

Content Themes

ANIMALS

• References to seasonal animal resources or animals that are cues of seasonal change

• Example from the Chumash:

• “now they were // no longer boys. They were geese .... They flew …. away to the north, and …. [became] the seven Pleiades” (Blackburn 1975:247-248)

PLANTS

• References to seasonal plant resources or plants that are cues of seasonal change

• Example from NW Australia:

• “When the aborigines hear the first rumblings of thunder in the summer time, they … say to each other, ‘The Makara [Pleiades] are bathing again …. Soon they will splash so much water over the edge of their bathing pool that there will be sufficient rain to fill the waterholes, and to make the yams grow” (Mountford 1976:35)

• Star myths often contain multiple types of ecological information

Example from the Wasco:

• “And he [Coyote] put up a bunch of stars. Sometimes this bunch of stars comes up in the evening, just as the sun has set behind the mountains. In the spring, when the bow-and-arrow woods are in bloom, this bunch of stars gives luck” (Clark 1953:155)

How the Themes Work Together

Study Populations: 44 Regions, 82 Cultures

AFRICA2 San20 Hadza

CIRCUM-MEDITERREANEAN123 Saami

SOUTH AMERICA367 Warao391 Selknam391 Tehuelche392 Caduveo392 Nivaclé392 Toba394 Chorote394 Wichí396 Ayoreo396 Chamacoco401 Bororo

313 Piegan314 Assiniboine314 Plains Cree314 Wahpeton315 Crow316 Arapaho316 Cheyenne316 Comanche316 Kiowa319 Winnebago320 Menomini327 Jicarilla 320 Menomini327 Jicarilla

EAST EURASIA155 Chukchi155 Koryak

INSULAR PACIFIC229 NW Australia (various)231 SE Australia (various)

NORTH AMERICA278 Noatak, Alaska278 W. Arctic, Canada279 Netsilik279 Iglulik279 Polar Inuit279 Greenland Inuit279 Baffinland Inuit280 Eastern Cree280 Naskapi

281 Micmac281 Penobscot282 Ojibwa282 Timiskaming282 Timagami Ojibwa284 Tahltan288 Tlingit291 Quileute292 Snohomish293 Kathlamet293 Wasco294 Coos294 Coquille295 Karok295 Shasta295 Wiyot295 Yurok298 Yuki299 Monachi299 Yokuts301 Cahuilla

301 Chumash301 Luiseno302 Kiliwa304 N. Paiute305 Chemehuevi305 Kaibab Paiute305 Shivwits & Moapa306 Walapai306 N. Yavapai306 W. Yavapai307 S. Ute307 Uinta Ute308 Klamath308 Modoc309 Nez Perce310 Coeur d’Alene311 Chilcotin311 Lillooet311 Thompson312 Kutenai313 Blackfoot

Study Sample: Geographic Distribution

Results

93

%

55

%

55

%

11

%

89

%

41

%

91

%

38

% 41

%

7%

80

%

28

%

DESCRIPTION TIME SEASON NAVIGATION ANIMALS PLANTS

% W

ITH

MYT

HS

EXH

IBIT

ING

TH

EME

CONTENT THEME

FREQUENCY OF ECOLOGICAL CONTENT THEMES IN STAR MYTHS

Across 44 Forager Culture Regions Across 82 Forager Cultures

Results

• Results indicate that star myths • consistently provide info that facilitates

identification of asterisms

• regularly associate asterisms with animal resources & (to a lesser degree) seasonal change, time telling, & plant resources

• do not tend to reference navigation

• Use of asterisms for ecological purposes is not always explicit in stories• Ethnographic record checked for each

region to ascertain whether asterisms were indeed used for these purposes

EXAMPLE (from Australia)Myth“The Seven Sisters [Pleiades] rise in the east. They urinate and make it very cold” (Von Brandenstein1970:50)

Ethnographic Record“The Pleiades, when they were in the sky before dawn in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia, were seen as a signal of the onset of the coldest nights” (Johnson 1998:25)

Pleiades or Seven Sisters

Forager culture regions in study sample for which ethnographic evidence of ecological asterism use was found.

CULTURE REGION TIME MONTH/SEASON NAVIGATION2 San Khoisan (Medupe 2015:1033-4); /Xam (Snedegar 1995:537); Jū/wāsi

(Marshall 1975:154, 157)123 Lapps Saami (Kuoljok et al. 1993:15) Saami (Kuoljok et al. 1993:15) Saami (Kuoljok et al. 1993:15)155 Siberians Chukchi (Anisimov 1963:212)229 NW Australia Groote Eylandt (Mountford 1956:485-487; Johnson 1998:25); Arnhem

Land (Johnson 1998:24-25; Mountford 1956:504); Yolngu (Clarke 2015:2228); Millingimbi (Johnson 1998:24)

Wardaman (Norris & Harney 2014:10)

231 SE Australia Kulin, Wotjobaluk (Massola 1968:109-111); Mallee (Johnson 1998:24);

New South Wales (Johnson 1998:25); Gullibul (Johnson 1998:116)278 Interior Inuit General (MacDonald 2015:534, 537) General (MacDonald 2015:534, 537) Caribou (Birket-Smith 1929:154)

279 C & E Inuit General (MacDonald 2015:534, 537) General (MacDonald 2015:534, 537-538) Iglulik (MacDonald 1998:538)

281 Maritime

Algonkians

Micmac (Hagar 1900:96)

282 Ojibwa Chippewa (Densmore 1929:137) Chippewa (Densmore 1929:137)

294 Oregon Seabord Chetco, Galice Creek, Sixes River (Barnett 1937:176) Chetco, Galice Creek (Barnett 1937:176)

295 NW California Shasta (Voegelin 1942:143)301 SW California Cahuilla, Cupeño, Luiseño, Serrano (Drucker 1937:26); Luiseño (DuBois

1908:165); Cahuilla (Hooper 1920:362); Chumash, Gabrileno

(Harrington 1942:29)

302 Diegueño Diegueño (Drucker 1937:26; Spier 1923:357-358)305 Southern Paiute Chemehuevi (Laird 1976:93-95)306 Plateau Yumans Walapai (Kroeber 1935:112)308 Lutuami Klamath (Voegelin 1942:143,234)312 Kutenai Kutenai (Turney-High 1941:98)313 NW Plains Blackfoot (Hagar 1900:97)367 Orinoco Delta Warao (Wilbert 1996:80-81)392 Guaycuru Toba (Gomez 2015:282-283)394 Mataco Wichí (Mariani 2017:289-290)401 Bororo Bororo (Fabian 1982:290) Bororo (Fabian 1982:290)

55

%

55

%

11

%

43

%

18

%

11

%

SEASON TIME NAVIGATION

% O

F R

EGIO

NS

REF

EREN

CIN

G E

CO

LOG

ICA

L ST

AR

USE

ECOLOGICAL USE

ECOLOGICAL STAR USE: COMPARISON OF STORY & ETHNOGRAPHIC RECORDS

Story Record Ethnographic Record

Conclusions & Future Research

CONCLUSIONS• Like early farmers, foragers use

stars for subsistence purposes & encode star knowledge in myth• This practice may have emerged early

in our species’ evolution

• Findings support claims by indigenous informants that storytelling is an important means of transmitting traditional ecological knowledge• Storytelling may have been one of the

earliest forms of teaching in human evolution

FUTURE RESEARCH• Continue search of ethnographic

record • How were stars used?• Analyze by culture

• Role of animals & plants referenced in stories• Important for food, clothing, trade?• Cues to availability of important

resources?

• On average, how many different types of ecological information are encoded in a given story?

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